Well, I feel like I should start this blog by introducing myself again…IT HAS BEEN WY TOO LONG!

All is well and classes are well under way. This semester I am taking three classes (Introduction to Sculpture, War and Peace in Film, French Phonology), as well as working on my Independent Study. Everything is going really well, except for the fact that the “IS-ticker” is ticking quite quickly now! My advisors would like a final rough draft in hand by February 28, 2010! That is in 26-days from now…and 47-days from IS MONDAY! I am no where near completion, though I do have 87-pages of IS written….WOW!!!

Overall, my Independent Study project is going pretty well. I mean it is definitely stressful and a lot of work, but it has taught me a lot about prioritizing and staying on top of things/homework/etc. As far as my project goes I am looking at the relationship between defining and understanding sustainable development and the way that it is conceived and approached in Senegal, West Africa. I had some incredible interactions/interviews while I was in Senegal over winter break…and I am ready to hit the ground running with my case study an analysis of my findings!

On another note, I am trying to enjoy all the joys of being a college student. My friends and I are spending more time together and are dreading the prospects of graduating and leaving a place we have grown to call HOME! The other night we all watched “The Hurt Locker” and just “vegged” in my room for hours! We are going to miss the luxuries of just hanging out and relaxing. When somebody says that college is the best four years of your life…they are not lying to you. These past seven semesters have been incredible.

Well, I am going to head to bed now. It is late and Timkin Science Library is getting too quiet (and its the quiet library on campus). Let me sign off and leave you all with this picture below!

Well, I am back in Dakar after a wonderful visit to KER MOMAR SARR in Northern Senegal. After a 6 hour trip back into the city…I have finally taken a shower (after 2 days) and gotten re-situated. I will write more about my experience there soon!

So, I am sitting in my room and I am looking out my window on to the field hockey and soccer fields, the sun is shining through and the leaves on all the trees are perfect shades of red, orange, and yellow. I am starting to realize that this will be the last time that I have this view as a student of The College of Wooster. The winter will be here before I know it, and then soon after IS Monday, and then graduation.

Wooster is an incredible place with so many life-changing opportunities for all students to embrace. I do not know what type of person I would have been if I would not have come to Wooster, but I do know that what I have become is all because of this wonderful institution.

So, I am now walking slower through the Oak Grove. I am smelling the fresh air. I am enjoying the company of friends, staff, and faculty inside and outside the classroom. And, I am, ultimately, beginning a process that I do not want to go through; I am truly starting to realize that the light at the end of the tunnel is so much closer and that I am ready to pass from one door in my life to the start of another.

This was such a relaxing weekend for me. I had the pleasure of spending it with my mother and did not think about my independent study project, homework, or anything relating to school. My mom arrived on campus Friday evening at about 7PM and my friends and I were waiting for her at the Wooster Inn Pub. We have become regulars at the Pub, and see ourselves going there every Friday at about 5:45-6PM.

The first activity that my mom and I went to (along with Tess, Kaitlyn, Anna’s mom, Anneb, and Lindsay and her mom) was a performance by all five of the a capella groups (After These Messages, A Round of Monkeys, COW Belles, Lethal Inflection, and Merry Kuween of Skots). Going to see the a capella groups on campus is one of my favorite things to do…even if they sing the same songs at every show! After the a capella show, we went to see the comedy group on campus called Don’t Throw Shoes; they were hilarious! My mom and I then went to the infamous Coccia House and had delicious, anti-pasta, calamari, pizza, maple-pecan gelatto. My mom wanted to see the college underground, as well, but I told her another time I would show her.

On Saturday, I had to work in the Office of Admissions, but after work, I went to the football game with my mom. We played Wabash (#18) and lost 37-27; we started the game off really well, with an early touchdown and some good offense and defense, but in the end just could not hold out. After the game, my mom and I went to Tulipan in downtown Wooster and had some coffee and cookies; Tulipan is the Hungarian Bakery that serves delicious treats. We followed that small meal with an incredible meal at The Old Jaol Steakhouse. My mom, Tess, and I had enough food to hold us over for a couple of days! It was great to go to The Old Jaol because I had never been before, and now I can check it off my “Wooster Bucket List”. Our evening ended with a jazz performance (a tribute to Nat King Cole) by Freddy Cole and his Trio with the College of Wooster Jazz Ensemble.

Today, I started off my morning at Broken Rocks for breakfast with my mom. This weekend was so nice, I had such a great time with my mom and was able to clear my mind of everything else college.

Alex is:
(a) diligently studying for his two midterms tomorrow.
(b) sitting in the Office of Admissions waiting for a student to arrive.
(c) wishing it was not so humid and rainy outside.
(d) counting down the days until Homecoming Weekend (it starts Friday)!
(e) both a and d
(f) both c and d
(g) all but a

Well, after days and days of thunderstorms and massive downpours, I have finally been able to go on some decent runs! No one ever told me that it’s humid and rainy 80% of the time in Washington, DC over the summer! Anyways, I am getting really excited about cross country in the fall, so I really appreciate when the weather is perfect here. I haven’t run competitively since before I left for Senegal, so I am slowly getting back into everything, but it’s all good! Yesterday, I went on a nice, long 12.25 mile run around DC. I ran from American University to M Street in Georgetown (the ritzy shopping street) to the White House to the Washington Monument to the Lincoln Memorial and then back to campus. I love being around all of these great places! All of my runs in DC have been amazing, but it is so hilly here! American University has to be on the highest hill in Washington, DC, because every single time I go for a run it is all down hill and then all up hill. Not the best for when I want to do an easy run, but I will be ready to tackle all the “hills” in Wooster!

Well, it is 1:30AM, and I just got back from dinner and a movie in Bethesda, MD. I’ll write more later. Peace from Obama-ville! ALEX

It seems like it was forever ago that my mom and I started the infamous “college search” (which many of you that are reading this blog might be on). At times I was bored, but I knew when I liked something about a school. I had physically looked at what seems like 40 schools during high school, from larger universities to smaller liberal arts colleges. I was exposed to the perks of going to a huge school, but found everything I wanted, and more, at the smaller liberal arts institutions, like The College of Wooster.

The College of Wooster is a unique place; it has so much to offer, and I am extremely happy that I chose to come to this institution of higher learning. I remember my tour, not everything about it, but most of it. I remember saying that I “play cross country” as I entered (what I consider the epitome of a collegiate library) Timken Science Library; seeing all of the friendly people around, who appeared to genuinely love their school; enjoying the beautiful campus, which appeared to be manicured perfectly in many places; talking about how Wooster was the right fit for me (even if it was only an hour and twenty minutes from home); and experiencing a place that I could call home for the next four years.

I was drawn to the Senior Independent Study (IS) Project that Wooster had to offer and the opportunity to do a masters-like thesis at the undergraduate level. I wasn’t thinking about graduate school or a master’s degree in high school, but I knew that this “IS Project” was something that Wooster did well and perfected. I was excited to work one-on-one with a faculty advisor during the entirety of my senior year; to choose a topic that was not going to be assigned to me, but one that I could pick on my own; and to build the many important intangible skills, like effective time management, organization, and communication. The IS was the main reason I decided to come to Wooster; it made me reconsider the distance of Wooster from my home and it made me realize that I wanted to attend an institution that just focused on undergraduate study.

Wooster has so many incredible things to offer, and over the next few weeks, I am going to highlight the main reasons why I decided to come to Wooster. I absolute love this place, and would not want to be anywhere else.